A visit to the local wet market is enough to give you palpitations. Prices of vegetables and fruit have soared, perhaps by as much as a third over the last few years. One news report even said that the price of kangkung rose in December 2013.

Penang char koay teow, along with other local culinary delights, has hit the top of the foodie charts! Don’t you think it is about time we set up a street food museum to showcase how George Town’s street food landscape evolved over time and to honour the pioneers (or the ‘ori-maestros’, as Tunglang refers to them)?

Penang char koay teow: On top of the world – Photograph: jasonlcs_87/Flickr

Will the Barang Naik phenomenon result in fewer people patronising street food – and turning to healthier home-cooked food at home instead (but even home-cooked food is getting expensive as a cursory glance at prices at the wet market will confirm)?

Or will the higher-end restaurants be the ones that suffer if their customers desert them and turn to cheaper street food options?

One reason for the hike in food prices is that Malaysia does not have self-sufficiency in our basic food supply. We are too busy building expensive condos and houses instead of providing our people with affordable food.